


Creatures of Night and Shadow

by ArtemisPendragon (ArtemisPendragyn)



Series: Hannigram Short Story AUs [1]
Category: Hannibal (TV), Hannibal Lecter Series - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Cyberpunk, Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Angst, Cyberpunk, Dystopia, Far Future, Future, Futuristic, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mystery, Science Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Thriller, scifi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:02:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27068338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtemisPendragyn/pseuds/ArtemisPendragon
Summary: The year is 2059. Will Graham is a cop in the City of Salvation, one of the greatest supercities on Earth. After almost dying in an event that killed everyone else on his team, he wakes up in the care of Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a doctor specializing in creating and fixing androids. Initially confused and desperate to recall what happened to his teammates, Will begins to realize that maybe he doesn't want to remember after all.
Relationships: Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter
Series: Hannigram Short Story AUs [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1975561
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29





	Creatures of Night and Shadow

“Will. Will, can you hear me?”

Will came to consciousness slowly. He felt like a bird caught in a storm, tumbling helplessly through wind and rain. Groaning, he tried to lift his head, but a shock of pain down his spine stopped him. He blinked, but the world stayed dark. He closed his eyes again, disoriented and on the verge of panic. “Where am I?” His voice surprised him: it had a static edge to it, crackling and mechanical. “What…?”

“Lie still. If you move too much you could tear your stiches.”

Will relaxed, exhaling sharply. “Dr. Lecter? Is that you?”

“Hannibal, please. I believe we know each other well enough to be on a first name basis, don’t you?”

“I guess so. I just… ahh, my head.” Will tried to raise a hand but his muscles didn’t respond, arm limp and motionless. Despite the numbness in most of his body, he could tell he was on an observation table, the steel cold against the back of his neck. Which meant he was injured. Badly injured. 

“I said to lie still.” Hannibal laid a hand on Will’s chest, applying just enough pressure to keep Will prone, the touch firm but not painful. “Do you know why you’re here?” Hannibal said. “Do you remember what happened to you?”

“I… no. I don’t remember. I think I was on a mission. Something went wrong.”

Hannibal’s voice took on a grave, sorrowful edge. “Yes. Your team is dead, Will. You’re the only survivor, and at great cost to your physical health.”

“My vision is… I can’t see anything.” Will swallowed a lump in his throat. “And why does my voice sound… like _that?_ ”

A long silence. Will tried to picture Hannibal’s face, how he would look as he considered how to respond. “Your eyes and vocal cords were damaged in the event.”

It hit Will then, a blow to the chest so strong it knocked the wind out of him. “You’re a doctor,” he said, “but you specialize in androids, not living people.”

“Yes.” Hannibal sounded like he was trying to control his voice, keeping it carefully neutral. “I was asked by Jack Crawford to do whatever I could to save you. You needed immediate and quite invasive surgery to keep you alive.”

Although it didn’t really make a difference, Will closed his eyes. “Nothing hurts. I just feel numb.”

“Yes, that’s because I’ve given you several drugs to block your pain receptors. If you were fully aware of the pain your body is experiencing, the shock would likely kill you.”

“Great. That’s… just my luck, isn’t it.”

“Well.” Hannibal’s hand moved away from Will’s chest, and there was the sound of metal on metal. “You are the only survivor out of a team of seventeen, so I would call you selectively lucky.”

Will laughed. “Selectively lucky. Yeah, that’s me.”

“I’ve managed to salvage all of your limbs, although they’ve been reinforced with interior and external artificial nerve pathways and musculature. From the outside, it should be hard to detect the difference, but it may take some getting used to. Within a week or two you should regain your full range of motion, plus some. There are advantages to being taken apart and put back together, Will. I have added some features that evolution failed to give humanity in our natural state.”

Will took this in, trying not to panic again. He’d never been a fan of androids. He found them creepy, their dead electric eyes and too-fluid motions. There was something predatory about the way they moved, as if they were one virus away from turning on humanity and tearing them apart with their freakishly strong bare hands. “What about my vision? And my voice?”

“I just need to make a few adjustments. I didn’t intend for you to awaken so early in the process, but it would be dangerous to administer any more anesthesia at the moment. The process of activating and adjusting your sight and voice may be uncomfortable, but not painful. However, if you do feel any pain, let me know immediately.”

Will tried to nod, but his neck was too stiff, and pain shot down his spine again like lightning down a rod. “I’ll let you know, Doctor.” He tried not to sound too bitter, but it was hard. He was pretty sure he’d never been more bitter in his life. He had expected to feel sad, but that hadn’t caught up yet. He knew there would be time to grieve his teammates, but for now he was just… angry.

Hannibal didn’t reply. Instead, there was more clanking and the sound of drawers opening and closing. “I just need to collect the right tools and… here we are, this should do the job.”

“What exactly _is_ the job?” Will felt a jolt of apprehension. “I’ve never had anyone make any adjustments to my body. You said it’ll be uncomfortable, but what exactly—?”

He didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence. The muscles in his throat went numb and slackened, voice trailing off. “Apologies, but in order to safely perform this procedure you can’t be talking. I could further damage your vocal chords in the process.”

Will tried to swallow and found that he couldn’t. He opened his mouth, sucking in a deep breath, trying to relax as he felt Hannibal’s hands on his throat. The numbness in his neck spread to his face and chest, and he began to drift again. When he jolted back to full awareness, Hannibal’s hand was on his forehead, abnormally warm against Will’s chilled skin. “You’re still partially in shock, but you don’t have a fever. That’s good. I means your body isn’t rejecting the modifications I’ve made to it.” Will heard the smile in Hannibal’s voice. “Try opening your eyes, Will, and repeat after me: My name is Will Graham. I am a citizen of the City of Salvation. The year is 2059.”

Will swallowed and, to his relief, found that his throat worked again. Slowly, praying that whatever Hannibal had done was successful, he opened his eyes.

Hannibal was leaning over him, whiskey eyes a foot from Will’s face. There was a raptness of attention in them that was almost intimidating, sharp and alert and somewhat predatory. “There you are. Can you see?”

“I… yes.”

“Good. Now repeat what I said. Can you do that?”

Will blinked. The world beyond Hannibal’s face was too bright, blinding white and blue spots of light dancing like sunbeams on still water. “My name…” his voice was smoother now, low and natural, much more like his own. “My name is Will Graham. I’m a citizen of the City of Salvation. The year is 2059.”

Hannibal smiled. He ran a hand over Will’s forehead, then straightened up, nodding approvingly. “Everything seems to be in order.”

“What about…?” Will tried to flex the muscles in his arms, his hands, his legs. “I still can’t move.”

“That is intentional. I believe it’s safer to keep you sedated until your stiches can be removed. I’ve used a biologically based skin-replacement solution that should seal up most of the damage, but I decided it would be safer to stitch up areas that may need to be reopened later.”

“Reopened. Right.” Will closed his eyes against the bright lights, taking small, shallow breaths. “Any chance you’re going to tell me what happened? And what’s going to happen now?”

“Yeah mean what will become of your career. Unfortunately, I believe your time in the police force is over. Which I wouldn’t be too upset over, if I were you. I have it on good authority that Salvation City’s law enforcement will be replaced entirely by android officers by 2063. It would remove bias and bigotry, as well as human error.”

“Human error. Is that what happened to my team? Someone slip up and get us all killed?”

“Not all.” Hannibal’s hand returned to Will’s chest, but this time he wasn’t holding him down. The touch was comforting, soft, subtle. “You survived.”

Will laughed. The sound was harsh, sharp around the edges, and mostly humorless. But that wasn’t anything new. “Some of me did.”

“Your mind survived, Will. Your consciousness. No amount of damage to your physical form can change who you are. Besides, I expect you to make a full recovery within the month.”

“What about my team, Hannibal? What about their consciousnesses? What happened to them?”

A long pause. “You’re still in shock, Will. I believe it would be better—”

“I don’t give a fuck what you believe. Tell me what happened or I’ll jump off this table and strangle you with my fancy new mechanical fingers.”

Another moment of hesitation, and then, “You killed them, Will. You killed them all, down to the last man. Sixteen dead, and you survived. How did you survive?”

Will’s mind went blank. He barely heard what Hannibal said after the first sentence, unable to process, to rationalize. To understand. “That’s not possible,” he whispered. He shook his head, ignoring the flare of pain in his back and neck. “Why would I do that? I _wouldn’t_ , I—”

“What do you remember from before the event?”

“The _event?_ I… nothing. I’m…” Will stopped, suddenly overwhelmed. “You said it’s 2059. How many months into 2059 are we?”

“Seven.”

Will’s blood froze. He swallowed, breathing speeding, no longer fighting the panic surging in his chest. “I don’t remember the past five months. Nothing. It’s all a blank.”

“You’re missing time. That’s normal after a traumatic event like this.”

“I didn’t kill them.” Will heard the desperation in his own voice, fear strong enough to betray his own doubt. “Why would I do that?”

“That’s what we’re going to find out.” Hannibal’s voice was soft, patient. His hand hadn’t left Will’s chest. “Jack Crawford believes you were coerced or brainwashed into doing it by a radical anti-loyalist organization called SHADOW. He thinks you are innocent, but most won’t. They will look at your crimes and condemn you without a second thought.”

“They’ll kill me.” A wave of nausea hit Will so hard he thought he would black out. “They’ll come here and they’ll find me, and they’ll kill you, too, Hannibal. For sheltering me. For helping me.”

When Will opened his eyes to gauge Hannibal’s reaction, he was shocked to see the doctor smiling. “Will. We’re far away from harm. Until we have cleared up this matter and ascertained the reason for your transgressions, I will keep you safe from the authorities.”

“I…” Will blinked, frowning. “Where are we?”

Hannibal straightened up. Slowly, the blue and white lights dimmed, and Will got a proper look around the room. False windows displayed looping videos of waves crashing on a sandy beach, thin strands of neon blue and pink lights following cracks in the paneled wall. There was a sink and a countertop covered in an array of vials and tinkerer’s tools, as well as several spare mechanical parts. Some were covered in blood; Will had the feeling those had been the rejected pieces of his new patchwork mechanical body. Feeling sick again, he turned away, closing his eyes.

“We’re on a train to the Outer Reach. I have a safehouse there where we can stay until you’ve recovered.”

Will swallowed the lump in his throat. “I don’t believe you,” he whispered. “I don’t believe I killed them.”

A hand fell on Will’s head, fingers carding through his hair. “That’s probably for the best. It will take time for you to come to terms with what you’ve done, Will.”

“I don’t want to come to terms with it.”

“Then don’t. But you’re a smart boy, and eventually the truth will catch up with you. You’ll begin to remember, and when that happens, you won’t be able to hide from what you’ve done.”

Will turned his head, opening his eyes to meet Hannibal’s steady gaze. “Do you believe I was brainwashed? That I didn’t know what I was doing?”

A tiny smile played at the corner of Hannibal’s mouth, the slightest quirk of his lips. “No,” he said. “I believe you were fully aware. But,” he added, before Will could protest, “I fully endorse your decision to do what you did. In fact, you may have saved many lives. Mine included.”

Will stared at him, and Hannibal’s smile grew. “You may not know it now, but you’ve done a very brave and wonderful thing, Will. And once you begin to remember, everything will become clear again. You will rediscover who you truly are.”

“I don’t—”

“Of course you don’t. But you have no reason to feel guilty. There’s nothing about us to feel horrible about.”

The lights flared back to life. Hannibal’s features blurred into darkness, a silhouette wreathed in white and blue. He leaned forward and Will felt the prick of a needle in his neck. Everything started to fade, sounds and colors blending into one. Through the haze, he heard Hannibal’s voice, accompanied by a gentle hand on his shoulder. “We are creatures of night and shadow, Will,” Hannibal whispered. Will closed his eyes, drifting into darkness. “And from the shadows we will rise again.”

**Author's Note:**

> I've always wanted to write a cyberpunk/dystopian Hannigram novel-length fic but since I have zero patience right now I think I'll just stick to a short story, haha! Anyway, this is just a self-indulgent glimpse into a futuristic alternate universe that I've been thinking of writing for a while. Hope some of y'all enjoyed it, too! As always, any and all feedback is massively appreciated! :) <3


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